Dave has predicted it, and we all know it's likely: the Blazers will inexplicably rebound from their pathetic effort last night in Denver to give the Heat all the can handle tonight at the Rose Garden. Our guys will go all out, scrapping like their lives depend on it--rooted on by the crowd and, yes, buoyed by a bit of home cooking by the officials. All will be forgiven and forgotten. We fans will be like Charlie Brown, once again believing that Lucy is going to let him kick that football.

But tonight's expected turnaround vs the Heat will be fools gold. You can't sustain that kind of physical and emotional effort through the grind of the regular season. And it won't help you in the playoffs, because EVERYONE goes all out then.

The fact is, the Blazers aren't as good as the top teams. Their roster is unbalanced and less talented. The reason, aside from the career-ending injuries to GO and Roy, is that they make horrible choices in the draft. Nolan Smith over Kenneth Faried is the latest in a long line of inexplicable picks. And that's not going to change as long as the team has a meddling owner who thinks he knows basketball but doesn't.

I've finally faced reality. I don't think I'm going to watch the games or visit Blazers Edge anymore. Life is short; there's more enjoyable things to do with my time. "Hurryup '09?" I picked that handle in '08, based on my belief that the Blazers' championship window would open in '09-'10. But I no longer believe there will ever be a championship window for the Blazers as long as Paul Allen owns the team. I've finally thrown in the towel.